Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Larrica AC Devin

What? An act created to protect the public health and environment from the misuse of pesticides Regulates the labeling and registration of pesticides and by considering the costs and benefits of their use Requires Manufacturers to submit data pertaining to the safety and efficacy of products sold ▫Efficacy:capacity for producing a desired result or effect

Who? Three U.S. Federal Agencies ▫Environmental Protection Agency ▫Part of the executive branch and in charge of FIFRA ▫One of two pesticide acts they implemented ▫United States Department of Agriculture ▫Food and Drug Association Regulate the sale and use of pesticides under FIFRA

Work in Progress 1910 Federal Insecticide Act ▫Protecting consumers from ineffective products and deceptive labeling 1947 FIFRA First Established ▫Expanded FIA to include Fungicide and Rodenticide 1972 FIFRA amended by FEPCA 1996 Food Quality Protection Act ▫Effects of small amounts of pesticides on children ▫Requires EPA to develop a screening program for their effects on humans ▫Requires EPA to set a maximum residue limit on each registered persticide Today ▫Called the FECPA

DDT Most effective bug Killer Vietnam Environmental activist Rachel Carlson wrote Silent Spring in 1962 ▫Sugested that DDT is bad Can you believe that it was made in a lab in 1873?

Between 1972 the EPA used FIFRA to ban or severely restrict 64 Chemicals According to National Academy of sciences federal laws regulating pesticide use in the united states are inadequate and poorly enforced by the three companies. Under FIFRA, the EPA was supposed to asses the health risks of the acticve ingredients in pesticide products already in use. But after more than 30 years, less than 10% of the active ingredients in pesticide products were actually tested. They claimed that they didn’t have sufficient funds to complete these tests.

Angry Farmers Bates vs. Dow AgroSciences LLC ▫Peanut farmers threatened to sue D.A in state court for damages cause by one of Dow’s herbicides Ruckelshaus vs. Monsanto

Why? 2.6 million tons of pesticides are used (4.9 tons per minute) Public concern about the presence of pesticides in food, drinking water, and the environment The first pesticide regulation (Federal Insecticide Act) was established in 1910 FIFRA was established in 1947 with the development of synthetic organic pesiticides

Sources ra.cfm